Love Is No Mere Child's Game

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Simple Simon, Sweden's entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 2010 Oscars, explains its main plot point with an introduction between characters: "I'm Simon, I'm Asperger's." The title character deals with his syndrome by imposing a strictly regimented schedule upon himself and his brother Sam -- showers timed to the minute, tacos every Friday, et cetera. His rigid demands drive away Sam's girlfriend, setting Simon off on a mission to find his brother's perfect match. With Simon as narrator, the film is respectfully approached through the lens of the technically-driven Asperger's mind. He tries to impose logic upon the world's inherent chaos, breaking down when his equations for love and happiness fail to add up correctly. Of the fictional films that deal with similar disabilities -- What's Eating Gilbert Grape and The Other Sister immediately come to mind -- Simple Simon is one of few that offer an inside view of the topic. Simple Simon screens at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, November 13, and at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, November 15, at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema (1701 South Lindbergh Boulevard; www.cinemastlouis.org). Admission is $10 to $12.
Sun., Nov. 13; Tue., Nov. 15, 2011